Series: Penric and Desdemona by Lois McMaster Bujold ("Penric's Demon")

[Anna]

For the BR of the novels in the World of the Five Gods, go here. You can read Penric without having read the novels! Internal chronology of the novels/novellas here.

Pen&Des reading order:
Chronological order
Publication order

I recommend, this one time only, that you read one of them (Penric's Fox) out of publication order, because it's the second half to an earlier story. Like this:

Penric's Demon - Standalone

Penric and the Shaman - Part 1
Penric's Fox - Part 2 (#5 in pub order)

- Testimony of Mute Things (#15 in pub order)
- Masquerade in Lodi (#9 in pub order)

Penric’s Mission - Part 1
Mira's Last Dance - Part 2
The Prisoner of Limnos - Part 3

The Orphans of Raspay
The Physicians of Vilnoc
The Assassins of Thasalon (novel length)
Knot of Shadows
Demon Daughter
Penric and the Bandit
The Adventure of the Demonic Ox


Collections:

Penric's Progress: Demon, Shaman, Fox
Penric's Travels: Mission, Mira, Limnos
Penric's Labors: Lodi, Orphans, Physicians


Use spoiler tags and tell us which book/chapter you're talking about!

[Silvana]

Oh dear. Can only start next year :(

[Anna]

The first one is short! :P (Well, they are all short, since they're novellas, but you know, even shorter since it's standalone.)

Also, I didn't mean that people should start reading it immediately! Just that since there is a lot of talk about this novella series in the other BR thread, might as well have a thread ready when people want to start this.

[Gabi]

Cool! So I don't have to blabber unnoticed in my updates, but can do it here. Thank you, Anna! I will start the first one when there's a break coming up in my schedule.

[Jemppu]

Oh, this is on my TBR. And seems to be currently available on Storytel too! *yay* I'm rather inclined to listen it soon, as things seem to disappear from there quite unexpectedly sometimes ^^'

[Anna]

The audiobooks are lovely, I highly recommend listening to them! Unfortunately the last one isn't available on audio yet, and Limnos isn't on Storytel.

edit: No Limnos *is* on Storytel now, yay! You could listen to all six, and leave Raspay for later.

[Suzanne]

I had no idea a different order was recommended. I've read the first 2 and need to continue, so having this list is perfect - thank you!

[Jemppu]

Ah, yes. I meant Penric's Demon (which seems to be rather short). But there seems to be more of the Penric series too... and so much more of Lois McMaster Bujold :o

I'm rather tempted to go on a bender with these <:D

[Anna]

Bujold continued the story that started in Shaman after she'd already published the start of the next story arc. To me there's no sense in reading Fox in pub order, because it's clearly Shaman part 2. If someone disagrees, do say so!

[Anna]

Jemppu wrote: "so much more of Lois McMaster Bujold"

All of Vorkosigan is there, too :)

[Jemppu]

Anna wrote: "...All of Vorkosigan is there, too :)"

I noticed! Now I'm conflicted where to start! <:D

[Anna]

Start with Penric ;) Short, sweet and so much fun! ^_^

[Anna]

I think Penric is an excellent way to start with Bujold!

[Anna]

Since there are a bunch of people interested, do you want to set a date, or just read when you feel like it and comment when you can? Both options are good.

[Jemppu]

I shall indeed go with Penric now, since the first seems so accessibly swift ^^'

[Anna]

Jemppu wrote: "shall indeed start with Penric now"

Enjoy! ^_^

[David]

I'll probably join in whenever you read them. I've already read them all, but I can read Bujold books over and over.

[Jemppu]

Whelp. It was indeed short ^^ And a pleasantly easy-listen too, in LMB's familiarly jovial style. I noticed, that so are the following parts similarly short too, making it very tempting to go on for 'just one more'.

[Anna]

What, you listened to *Penric* at 2x?! :o Sacrilege! I'm shocked to speechlessness.

[Jemppu]

*hah* 1.75x, which sounded just fine - I was surprised myself :D There seemed to be nothing requiring too heavy digestion (yet?), so it went by nicely ^^'

[Anna]

But. But. You're meant to *enjoy* these, not race through them like some garbage book someone's forcing you to read!

[Jemppu]

^^' I know, I know. No worries: no-one's forcing me. And it's really not disturbing the enjoyment to have the narration sound more decisive. The normal speed is *really* painfully slow, I find.

[Anna]

I'm weeping! And writhing in ashes. And weeping some more.

(Imagine me doing the pose from Lemminkäinen's mother, with my hand on poor Penric's savaged chest.)

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

Thank you for this! I stopped reading this series after Mira's Last Dance. I was feeling some kind of way. I guess it's time to actually read The Prisoner of Limnos.

[Anna]

MrsJ, I'm curious, what kind of way was that?

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

Anna wrote: "MrsJ, I'm curious, what kind of way was that?"

(view spoiler)[I felt that Bujold put Penric in a terrible and lonely position. His friends from previous books just *poof* vanished. What happened to them? They text didn't say. Then Penric lost both his mother and his Princess Divine. So he became completely isolated...and into this vacuum walks Nikys. Ugh. I basically hated Nikys by the end of this book. She wasn't good enough for him and she didn't accept him for who he is. And the ending was so sad. It just didn't leave me with the warmer feelings I normally get with this series. So...I paused. I have Prisoner but didn't open it because I didn't want to read more about Penric being rejected and feeling absolutely alone. (hide spoiler)]

[Anna]

(Mira's Last Dance)

I see! (view spoiler)[ I actually thought maybe you meant it was too humorous with the Mira bits. I only had a little over a month between Mira and Limnos, so I got a complete story arc. I reread those three when Raspay came out, and I liked reading them together.

My favorite part of the series has always been Penric's relationship with Desdemona and the women, but I agree that the poor man has not exactly had a settled life and support network! He does feel very lost in this specific arc starting with Mission. (hide spoiler)]

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

I think that does make a big difference. I read them as they came out so that (albeit small) wait was enough to remind me (view spoiler)[ how unhappy I was at the end of Dance. That end – with the vision of Penric (and Desdemona) sitting alone in the dim candlelight… sadly writing his papers. IDK. It just stuck with me. And not in a “need more now!” kind of way. It's been hard for me to pick it back up again but I'm hoping that having 2 might make it easier. (hide spoiler)]

[David]

It's hard to comment about this without spoilers, so instead I'll just say: (view spoiler)[I've read 31 novels and novellas by Bujold, and while she definitely likes making her characters suffer in her stories, I think she really doesn't like unhappy endings. It sometimes takes multiple books, but things always seem to work out eventually, though not always in the format they originally hoped for. I can see how it would be frustrating at the end of Mira's Last Dance though, especially if you hate Nikys, which I suppose is a lose/lose situation no matter how it pans out :( (hide spoiler)]

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

David wrote: "It's hard to comment about this without spoilers, so instead I'll just say: [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I'm hoping it gets better! I just don't have the patience for extended character torture right now. So much is so terrible that I need some light and bright, you know? Its the reason why I stopped reading Hobb after one book. But, it does appear that Bujold isn't going to do to her characters the terribleness Hobb does to hers. (hide spoiler)]

[DivaDiane]

I have Penric’s Demon on Audible, so I’ll join you! But not right now! I have a million things on my list and several books on audio I want to listen to first!

[Michelle]

Well, crap! I read these as soon as they're hot off the presses, so I'm going to pass. After the last Penric, I was on a Bujold Binge, so I re-read her Sharing Knife series, too. Next up is a Chalion re-read, then the Vorkosiverse. I'll join a buddy read of the Penric & Des books next time!

[Anna]

The Physicians of Vilnoc is available now, and it's already on my Kindle, and I'm going to start reading it right now :) CW for plague if someone doesn't want to read about that right now.

And the Raspay audiobook is coming in July, it's available for preorder on Audible.

First page of Vilnoc: (view spoiler)[ AWWWW <3 I forgot Nikys was pregnant! I love that Des is only 2/12 baby mad :D (hide spoiler)]

[Soo]

Thanks for the head's up! =D

[Anna]

Finished! :D Aside from a small gripe I'm not going to elaborate on, it was exactly as fun as I wanted it to be! I'll put it this way, if you love the Penric series overall, but didn't love Shaman and Fox because of (view spoiler)[ what happens to the animals (hide spoiler)], then you might like this a tiny bit less, too.

If you don't want to read about medical professionals trying to keep up with a worsening epidemic, maybe it's not the time to read this. But I thought it touched on the subject in a great way, although I'm not an expert on that.

[Gabi]

Uuh! Good reminder that I finally start this series! … I'm so behind on everything I wanted to read.

[Anna]

This would be a great comfort read series right now! You could listen to the first six on audio, and 7 and 8 are kind of standalones, so you could wait to listen to them, or eye-read if you like Pen and Des enough to continue :)

[Gabi]

I'm now a proud user of storytel as well, which means, I have access to the Pen and Des novellas for a decent price. :D YEAH!

I'm halfway through "Penric's Demon" and I already love (view spoiler)[ the witty dialogues between Penric and his assembly of 10 (elderly?) women the lioness and the mare. Such a wonderfully crazy idea. I had to laugh so loud when he remarked that he would always have bedtime stories from now on, but that he probably won't be able to sleep afterwards.
It is great to see the demon topic explored more, and it is great to be back in the world of the five gods. (hide spoiler)]

[Anna]

Yes! I love (view spoiler)[ the relationship between Pen and Des, and the relationship "inside" Des, all the ladies are so different! Some of them died younger I think, but I don't know that we know exactly about all of them. And one mustn't forget the lioness and the mare! ^_^ (hide spoiler)]

[DivaDiane]

Ok! I still have Penric’s Demon on Audible and am reminded that I do want to read it. I’ll squeeze it in after I finish Three Body Problem. Might be 5 days or so. So, Gabi, please post your thoughts here. I’ll catch up on them soon!

[Christopher]

I've read and enjoyed through Fox and am planning to read the next three once the collection I ordered arrives (Penric's Travels)

[Gabi]

oh, yes! Join us, Diane and Christopher.
I just finished the first novella and love it! So much fun, such witty remarks and then this heart touching last statement.
Perfect combination for me.

[Christopher]

Yeah Penric's Demon was my favorite so far. I'll join in once you start reading Penric’s Mission.

[Gabi]

I just finished Penric and the Shaman. (view spoiler)[ This had a much darker tone and felt somewhat ... unfinished? I was waiting for a plot to start and then it was already over. But I was so glad that the dogs survived! (hide spoiler)]

@Christopher: I will read the first three books in a row, then squeeze one other audio in and then go on with novella Nr. 4. So probably end of the week.

[Christopher]

I may not be ready in time, my copy of the book's shipping date has been a bit delayed due to the current virus situation, hopefully get in sometime in the next few weeks.

[Gabi]

Okay, then what about you give a shout when you can start and I'll start then with book 4?

I have a lot of audiobooks to listen to in the meantime :D.

[Anna]

There's a bit of a time jump between 3 and 4, so it works to take a break there :)

[Leticia]

I got Penric's Demon and I'm looking forward to starting this series.

[Gabi]

And Penric's Fox finished! :D Can I just say that I love, love, love (view spoiler)[the Shamans? Such a wonderful addition to the world of the Five Gods (hide spoiler)]

But hell was I anxious, because (view spoiler)[ of the fox. The worst thing you can do to me is introduce an animal into a story and then threaten with the possibility that it could be killed. I mean there is so much hunting going on, everybody seems to love to shoot other living beings, and then when the forgot-his-name started musing about killing the fox to retrieve the demon I was biting my nails.
I was SO relieved when they came to this human conclusion. I have to re-read this one this time with the assured feeling that the fox will survive to appreciate the rest of the story :D.

Joking aside: I liked the crime investigation, the reunion with the two characters from "Shaman", the additional Shamans, and Penric's 'employer'. The Princess-archdivine is just so cool! (hide spoiler)]

[Anna]

Yes, if Bujold would (view spoiler)[ keep the (threat of) harm to animals to a minimum, I would absolutely love all of her stuff ten times more! I think I've read Shaman/Fox twice, and the second time I didn't remember if I needed to be scared or not, so I lived through all of it again. (hide spoiler)]